


She's a mess, she's a mess, now the girl is stressed

by merkintosh



Series: drabbles [5]
Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-16
Updated: 2013-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:31:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merkintosh/pseuds/merkintosh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tina tries some of the style suggestions her fellow Glee Clubbers gave her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	She's a mess, she's a mess, now the girl is stressed

Tina totally wanted to hate Principal Figgins, but when she was eleven years old Tina had told her mom that she hated Janice Tucker in her English class for making fun of her hair and her mom had done an amazing imitation of Yoda, saying, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Ever since, whenever she thought about hating someone, she knew that it would only lead to bad things. So instead, Tina just felt strong dislike for Principal Figgins for taking away her right to wear amazing clothes. It was like she was a knight and he'd taken her armor. It sucked.

Tina hadn't been particularly excited about the suggestions her friends had given her for styles to wear, but it was going to take a week for all their Gaga costumes to be finished so she needed something to wear that wasn't going to make her feel like drinking poisoned Kool-Aid. Maybe she would learn to love one of the new looks. It didn't hurt to think positively.

On Monday, she tried Santana's suggestion of Biker Chick. She liked the leather pants and fake tattoos Mercedes had helped her stick on (she felt the heart with the 'mom' in the center was cool), but when you included the leather vest, leather boots, and leather gloves, Tina felt more like a leather couch than a hot biker chick. It didn't help that whenever she tried to talk to Artie, he grew wide-eyed and stuttered. She had a feeling he was making fun of her. Everyone else in school kept pointing and staring too, and while her goth look had made most people look away, the biker chick look made people stare at her ass a lot. In the end, she gave the gloves to Santana and thanked her for the idea. Tina was pretty sure she sweated too much to be a biker chick. When she got home, Tina immediately took off the leather pants and wiped herself down with a towel.

Quinn's suggestion of computer programmer was what she wore for Tuesday. Tina didn't know much about computers beyond what was necessary to play Starcraft, but it was easy enough to find preppy clothes in Lima. The button-up shirt and slacks were ok, but they were pretty shapeless which made her feel more mannish than she had when she was six and liked to pretend she was the White Power Ranger. While Tina appreciated Kurt's gift of hipster-nerdy glasses to wear, she found that even though they were clear lenses they still hurt her eyes. She could have lived with the look if people didn't keep coming up to her and asking for help with their math homework. When Jacob Ben Israel came up to her and suggested she join the science club even though it conflicted with the time for the anime club, Tina knew she couldn't do this anymore. It was like her identity had been consumed by stereotypes. And nothing got in the way of her attending anime club, not even glee.

Mercedes was way too excited about her dressing like a hoodrat and it made Tina wonder if perhaps Mercedes had fantasies of being an inner-city youth so she could be found by a hip hop mogul when he came back to visit his old haunts and become a major star. It made sense to Tina because that sounded like a much cooler discovery story to be told on Vh-1's Behind the Music than being the daughter of a dentist in a nowhere town in the middle of Ohio. So when Mercedes dressed her in loose jeans, a bright tank top, big boots, and heavy black eye makeup that Mercedes said was "Chola-style," Tina just looked in the mirror and tried to not look disinterested while Mercedes gave her a thumbs up. She went through the entire day of school with a black cloud over her head and was glad her belt was tight enough to keep her pants from falling off. It had been cool how most everyone in the school flung themselves into the lockers when she passed, but Tina was a lover not a fighter and she hated the idea that people were actually afraid of her. Tina thanked Mercedes for the idea but deep inside she knew she could never be a hoodrat. Tina just didn't feel the urge to cut someone often enough to need a switchblade.

Who knew that cross-country skiing outfits were so hot when you weren't standing around in the snow? Plus, the skis were really bulky and heavy when you had to carry them around school. After she had hit Mr. Glennis in the head with her poles in the middle of math class and he had to go to the emergency room because the sharp end had hit him hard enough in the cheek to make him bleed, Tina spent the rest of the day hiding out in the choir room in her gym clothes standing in front of one of the wind machines.

Tina was afraid to admit it, but she really liked the Catholic schoolgirl look. The plaid skirt was very comfortable, but way too short. It also made her afraid that people would think that she and Rachel were related. Still, she liked the over-the-top quality of the knee socks when paired with pink mary janes and a soft pink blouse with a frilled collar. She was even able to wear some of her cuter hairbows to finish off the look and her glossy, straight hair loose down her back made her look like an actual Catholic schoolgirl. It didn't hurt that it seemed like every guy in school was flirting with her now, but they weren't being vulgar about it at all. It made her feel like a princess, even though she was pretty sure that they just figured she was slutty and had daddy-issues so they needed to act like gentlemen first if they wanted to get anywhere. Overall, though, the look fit her need for a dramatic persona while not making her pretend to be something she's not (Sometimes, a girl likes to flirt, ok? But she definitely did not have Daddy-issues). Still, it wasn't really Tina and by the end of the day she wished her hair had red streaks in it and that she could sit down without crossing her legs. It took a lot of work to be a princess and Tina preferred being a knight. It was more kickass.

So Tina retired the Catholic schoolgirl look to the back of her closet and promised herself that she'd find a look she loved again. Gaga week was first, though, and her bubble dress made her super-excited. Until then, she'd just have to suffer looking like a cult-member.

Well. Maybe she'd call Artie and have him come over Saturday with the promise of wearing the plaid skirt again. She texted him with her suggestion and waited for a response. She was surprised when she read his reply.

"Do u still have the leather pants?"


End file.
